After the House of Commons rejected the motion for possible military action in Syria, the two MPs from the district have spoken out about why they voted in favour of it.

MP for Sandwich Laura Sandys and MP for Dover and Deal
Charlie Elphicke both voted for the motion, which they say was not specifically for military action but to condemn the use of chemical weapons in general.

Ms Sandys said: “I always support humanitarian efforts in conflict zones and I would never have voted for the UK to militarily intervene in Syria.

“I was, however, happy to vote for a motion that stated that use of chemical weapons in any capacity should be wholeheartedly condemned and that we need to act as an international community to make sure this can never happen again.”

MP Charlie Elphicke said he also had his doubts about military action in Syria.

He added: “The view put to me by local people was that this was not our fight and they didn’t want to see us involved in yet another armed conflict. I understood this, especially after we were lied to time and again on Iraq. However, the use of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons is a line-crosser.”

Mr Elphicke added that although some say it was a great day for the Commons to “face down” government, he does not agree.

He said: “I think it’s actually quite pathetic. The House of Commons is not even able to say a basic thing like chemical weapons are bad and endorse humanitarian assistance.

“Who will take us seriously when we can’t even endorse action through the UN and condemn chemical weapons?”

The vote took place last week after a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria in which hundreds of people are reported to have died.